Snow Leopard install disk question.

To install OSX10.6 on a 2010 MacBookPro, must I use a MacBook specific install disk? (I misplaced the original disk). I do have a clean Apple OSX10.6.3 disk -is that OK? Or are there necessaryMacBook specific files that are missing from that disk?

I'm thinking that - rather than wait for Apple to send me a new 10.6.8 install disk - I'll make an appointment with a "Genius" at an Apple store instead. I live in New York City, so that's easy for me. And I think that they'll be able to install OSX on the MacBook's replacement hard drive. I can boot the new HD from an external HD I have and format the disk...

But I'm also thinking that it may make sense to use this opportunity to upgrade to Mavericks, since it's downloadable and free. Which leads to a new question - if I boot from OSX 10.6.8 on an external HD, will I be able to download and install Mavericks onto the MacBook? I'm not sure what the proper protocol is here, so I'm going to post that as a new question.

With all releases prior when there was a hardware revision after the retail release, Apple released system specific discs for those machines. http://www.everymac.com/ shows that the MacBook Pro mid-2010 model was released after April 1, 2010 on

I can report that the mid-2010 MacBook was able to boot up from the retail 10.6.3 disk, and I think I succeeded in installing the OS. But I can't say definitively that the whole process was have been successful, because I didn't complete it....

And the reason for that is that it became apparent that the fundamental problem I was dealing with wasn't a failed HD that needed to be replaced with a new one, it was that the cable connecting the internal HD to the computer was failing. You more experienced people are probably well aware that this is a common problem for that MacBook. In the end the original HD, which of course included a working version of OSX, was re-installed.

And since I needed to get the darn thing fixed right away so that my daughter could head back to college with it I ended up taking it to a Mac repair shop in Manhattan that had the part and could install it pronto.

Finally I want to again thank all three responders to my question. I know that good information results from the clash of different ideas in forums like this, but I'm also very happy that people are willing to give it their best shot.

The mid 2010 MBP was supplied with a grey disk with a newer build number than the retail 10.6.3 disk. That means it will not install from a 10.6.3 retail disk onto a 2010 MBP. Fact ! I have a mid 2010 MBP and a retail 10.6.3 disk, and have tried several times to do this. Trust me - it does not work.

Omaticnyc is right though that the MBP will boot from the retail disk - but the install will not complete - it fails after 10 minutes or so with no error message, and the machine then hangs. The same thing happens if you load the disk and choose it in Startup disk then restart. The odd thing about this latter method is that usually Startup disk flags up when a disk is unsuitable for a particular computer - in this case it doesn't.

This leaves post April 2010 MBP owners dependent on keeping hold of a working grey disk for their machine if they want to stick with Snow Leopard AND stay within their licence terms. And means buyers of secondhand MBPs MUST get the original disks. Or upgrade to a post Snow Leopard OS.

There is though a way round all this - unfortunately it probably isn't within the licence Ts & Cs...

When Leopard came out, it required an 867 MHz processor to boot/install. There were several workarounds to this, one of which was to install Leopard onto a drive in a compatible computer, then switch the drive (or clone it) to a slower one. And the same trick works to boot/install from the 10.6.3 retail disk onto a post April 2010 MBP. I've done it using a Mac Mini to install 10.6.3 then the 10.6.8 combo upgrade, and the only downside I can see is that the MBP then shows up as a Mac Mini in System Profiler.

The real shame (and maybe even stupidity on Apple's part) is that for 15 months no retail OS disk was/is available for any MBP and perhaps for any other computer built in this period. Makes you wonder what the purpose of retail disks is...either they're universal install media...or they're a means of generating extra revenue. And if it's the former, then a retail disk should be made available at the point of upgrading from one OS to the next - indeed if Apple could include Drop in DVDs at upgrade time, then a complimentary fully upgraded disk could have been included too.

If what you say is true, then I owe a brody AN APOLOGY! It is an interesting turn of a phrase however...

Oglethorpe and others have consistently recommended the "install Snow Leopard 10.6.3 into another Mac, upgrade to 10.6.8, clone and move clone over" approach as one option for the 2011 Macs suffering from this same problem:

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